


Pandemonium

by dustandroses



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Character Study, Community: tamingthemuse, Episode Related, Ficlet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-08
Updated: 2012-10-08
Packaged: 2017-11-15 21:38:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/532045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustandroses/pseuds/dustandroses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the first time in decades Spike spends Halloween outside the lair, and what he finds is quite unexpected.  Fortunately, Spike is capable of appreciating a little mayhem when he finds himself in the midst of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pandemonium

**Author's Note:**

> **Beta:** Ozsaur, my hero and shit  
>  **Prompt Notes:** Inspiration for this chapter taken from the Live Journal Community Tamingthemuse prompt #324: Maelstrom  
>  **Notes:** The last line of the ficlet was taken from the Buffy episode "Halloween" written by Carl Ellsworth.  
>  Here are a few links about the [Saltstraumen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltstraumen) and other [maelstroms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maelstrom). I'm particularly fascinated by them, so I looked them up on [Youtube](https://youtu.be/caJI1gVNWOY), there is lots of good live footage of maelstroms in that link.

The sun had barely sunk below the horizon, and Spike could feel the residual heat off the sidewalks, despite the fact that it was well into fall. He liked that about California; even at its worst, the cold weather was seldom more than mildly annoying. 

He felt odd being out on Halloween. He and Drusilla had followed the tradition of staying inside on this particular holiday for so many years that it seemed wrong to be wandering about while all the little _human_ monsters were out begging for treats.

A number of years ago they’d been in Germany for the holiday and Dru had insisted on going out for a bite. She’d been so unnerved by the ‘baby monsters’ that she’d never let either of them go out on Halloween again. Not that Spike really wanted to; it was somewhat disconcerting to have a twelve year old kid try and find the zipper on the back of your head so _they_ could wear the monster face next. At least eating the little blighter had made him feel better, but after that he had no interest in going out on that particular date.

But Dru was right; there was something in the air tonight. He could feel it swirling round him, surrounding him with sparks of electricity until the air practically buzzed with energy. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from; it seemed to be everywhere at once, pressing in on him, making his nerve endings sing with tension. Somewhere out here, something was about to happen. It didn’t feel like a particularly malignant force, but neither was it a positive one and it left him feeling unsettled. 

He was reminded of the Saltstraumen in Norway, the strait with the strongest tidal current in the world. Spike and Dru had stood on the bridge above it and watched the vortices swirl: huge whirlpools that had spawned legends and poems of boats pulled into their depths. Drusilla had been fascinated, and even _Spike_ had been tempted to prove he was equal to the task of conquering them. Not like they could drown. But it would have been damned cold in there, and he’d had no interest in freezing to a solid block of vampire before he could find Dru and drag them _both_ out of the fjords.

That was what he was feeling tonight, the twisting current of a chaotic maelstrom, churning around him and buffeting him from all sides with the promise of havoc. He closed his eyes to concentrate on the energy, feeling it whirl around him like a tornado or a hurricane. Tension hummed in the air, a storm that lit the insides of his eyes with lightning and hissed at him just below the level of his hearing, keening with unbearable power that built higher and higher… 

Then it was gone.

He opened his eyes in shock at the cessation of the pressure, slowly taking in the differences in the world around him. Where the turmoil and uproar had at first been internal, it had now turned outwards, and the world around him was full of bedlam. Pint-sized monsters roared and attacked, snarling and screaming to the skies, while midget cowboys shot at fairies that skittered through the air on insubstantial wings and tiny aliens shot ray guns at cavemen who threatened them with clubs. He blinked in surprise as a miniature lion roared by.

Everywhere, pandemonium reigned. Spike couldn’t help but grin. 

“Well, this is just…neat!”


End file.
